Chapter 872
Chapter 872
At Count Doyle's command, a brief silence fell.
But it was only for a moment. Soon, a stout, burly warrior stepped forward from their ranks and held a sword to Dipa's throat.
Thrust.
But Dipa was faster. She thrust her sword, piercing the warrior's heart.
The burly warrior died instantly, before he could even swing his own sword.
Count Doyle and his men were horrified. They knew Dipa was formidable, but to think she could still kill someone while in so much pain she couldn't even sit up properly was astonishing.
“Go.”
Two masters stepped forward and charged at Duchess Dipa. In the next instant, both were dead.
Count Doyle couldn't believe his eyes. Both men were officers of the Myriarch rank, commanders of frontline legions, and incredibly strong warriors.
And yet, a dying Dipa had killed them with a single strike? Was her martial prowess truly that profound?
“Go!”
This time, Count Doyle sent four masters, and they rushed fiercely at Dipa.
Swish, swish, swish, swish.
Likewise, all four masters died by Dipa's sword.
After killing the four, Dipa erupted into a violent coughing fit, so intense it felt as if her lungs would burst.
Blood immediately gushed from her mouth and nostrils.
She truly couldn't even sit up anymore; her body collapsed.
She slumped to the floor, leaning against the large bed, struggling to breathe with all her might.
Her vision was awash in red, rendering her blind. She could only discern her enemies' positions by sound.
Count Doyle Russo felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Just how powerful is Dipa's martial skill?’
“Fincher, you go…”
At Count Doyle's words, Fincher and several others raised their crossbows, desperately wound the strings, aimed at Dipa, and fired wildly.
Thwip, thwip, thwip.
Five bolts shot from the crossbows toward Dipa like lightning. Mustering her last bit of fighting spirit, she swung the sword in her right hand at incredible speed and blocked with the small shield in her left.
She was completely blind, relying solely on sound to pinpoint their locations.
Even so, she managed to block four of the bolts, but the last one pierced her left shoulder.
“Switch to poisoned bolts! Shoot her down!”
Fincher shouted loudly but didn't dare charge at her himself.
Dipa was beyond the realm of a normal person; she was too strong.
If they got close, they would likely be cut down in an instant.
But she couldn't stand, let alone walk, so they could just kill her with a volley of bolts, just as they did with Count Vytin.
Soon, several men rewound their crossbows, nocked poisoned bolts, and prepared to fire.
Dipa despaired inwardly.
With a bolt in her left arm, she could no longer block the arrows.
She might be able to block most of the next volley, but she would surely fail on the third attempt and die.
‘Damn you, Shen Lang. You human scum, Shen Lang. Vile and shameless Shen Lang. Your game is over. I, Dipa, am about to die, and Doyle Russo will soon take my place. That fool, in the name of his own justice, will wage war against you without a moment's rest. When that happens, you won't get Ivory Gold City, and even if your Amazon legion wins, they will suffer devastating losses. I, Dipa, will not be killed so weakly by traitors. I'd rather take them all down with me.’
Dipa's hand rested on a mechanism on the bed.
If she pressed it, tens of thousands of pounds of black powder would detonate, turning this room and everyone in it to dust.
‘Shen Lang, you Eastern scum. Your game is over. When I die, I will be reborn and fight you again until one of us is dead. Let's all die together!’
With the intent to detonate the tens of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, Duchess Dipa pressed the mechanism on the bed with all her might.
But even though she pressed the mechanism, the gunpowder did not explode.
“Fūtuere!”
The Duchess swore.
The traitors finished aiming their crossbows at Duchess Dipa, preparing for a second volley.
A wicked smile appeared on Fincher's face.
He aimed his crossbow below Dipa's abdomen.
‘This peerless beauty, this Grand Duchess, is a woman any man would desire but could never have, not even in their dreams. So, I shall pierce her with a bolt instead. Hahaha!’
Duchess Dipa closed her eyes, quietly waiting for death.
“Fire.”
Count Doyle Russo gave the command.
Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip.
Five bolts flew wildly toward Dipa's beautiful body.
‘Death has come. The reaper is here.’
Dipa felt a pang of regret for not having killed herself just a moment ago.
Her desire to live was so strong that she now faced a death devoid of dignity.
But suddenly, the wind stirred.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
The five bolts struck several shields, and multiple shadows crashed through holes in the roof.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
More and more Amazon masters descended from the roof, until there were dozens of them.
They surrounded Count Doyle Russo.
They were all clad head to toe, not an inch of skin exposed.
“Doyle Russo, Fincher. You traitors are surrounded. Lord Shen Lang, as the Duchess's husband and the co-ruler of Ivory Gold City, formally warns you to lay down your weapons and surrender!”
Princess Dora said, forcing herself to endure her discomfort.
At the appearance of the Amazon warriors, Duchess Dipa could finally hold on no longer and fainted.
Before losing consciousness, she uttered another unprintable curse.
It was aimed at Shen Lang.
She could no longer stand it.
Shen Lang was just too vulgar.
***
How much time had passed? Duchess Dipa quietly awoke.
She truly felt as though she had walked the edge of hell and back.
In truth, Shen Lang had gone to great lengths to save her.
Contrary to expectations, the plague acted more fiercely in a Westerner's body, and her condition had deteriorated faster than he anticipated. The strong and beautiful Duchess Dipa had nearly met an untimely end.
Penicillin was indeed a miracle cure for this disease.
Less than an hour after the injection, she showed signs of improvement, and in just three hours, her high fever had subsided.
The Black Death spread quickly, but it also receded quickly.
It was fortunate that it hadn't caused sepsis; otherwise, Shen Lang truly would not have been able to save her, and things would have become much more complicated.
However, Dipa still needed some time to make a full recovery.
Dipa was still extremely weak.
The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was look at Shen Lang.
He was wrapped tightly from head to toe, completely covered.
“You vulgar man. You madman. You are a madman through and through.”
Duchess Dipa cursed.
“A fine curse. But please, brush your teeth and bathe first. Don't ruin the image of a peerless beauty I hold in my heart.”
Shen Lang immediately pushed a toothbrush into her small mouth to brush her teeth, then undressed her, placed her in a bathtub, and washed every inch of her body.
Dipa said to him.
“Lord Shen Lang, I may be incredibly weak right now, but I can still kill you with ease.”
“Spare me, Your Grace.”
Shen Lang placed her on the bed and carefully applied ointment to the wound on her buttocks.
A moment later, the voice of the middle-aged eunuch, Taren, came from outside.
“Your Grace, the ginseng porridge you requested is ready. I will leave it outside.”
When Shen Lang went out, Taren was standing more than ten meters away.
He was still plump and greasy, and upon seeing Shen Lang, he bowed deeply and spoke with fawning enthusiasm.
“Even though Your Grace is covered from head to toe in special leather, your extraordinary handsomeness still shines through. In my opinion, your good looks are unparalleled in the East, are they not? I cannot even dare to imagine what kind of parents could produce such a handsome man as yourself…”
Previously, the eunuch Taren had been arrogant and insolent in front of Shen Lang, barely even looking at him.
He had called him an Eastern clown with every other word, and now here he was, shamelessly flattering him.
“Not bad. You'll go far. Seeing your shamelessness, I see a bit of myself in you. Taren, I'll keep an eye on you.”
Taren's back bent even more sharply, as if he might break in two.
“It is my honor. O great Lord Duke, O great Eastern Emperor, O great most handsome man in the world.”
Shen Lang took the ginseng porridge back into the room and fed it to Dipa, one spoonful at a time.
“My master, he… what happened to him?”
Dipa asked nervously.
“He was poisoned by his son-in-law, Fincher, and shot with over a dozen bolts, but my people rescued him in time. I first performed a stomach wash on him, then operated three times. However, he is still not out of the reaper's grasp. It is all up to fate now, and how much of a will to live he can muster.”
To save Count Vytin, Shen Lang had used up nearly half of his penicillin.
He had lost a lot of blood from his severe injuries.
The silver lining was that the significant blood loss had slightly weakened the poison's effect.
“What about the traitors?”
“We killed several thousand of them. The remaining several hundred leaders have been captured and are awaiting your judgment.”
Dipa said, grinding her teeth.
“Do you have an executioner among your men who can perform death by a thousand cuts? I want Fincher to suffer that cruel fate. As for Doyle Russo, he will be drawn and quartered!”
Shen Lang said with a smile.
“As you wish.”
“Has your army taken Ivory Gold City? You got your wish, Lord Shen Lang.”
“Pakki, you and I are husband and wife. Is there a need for such formalities? What's yours is mine…”
Duchess Dipa continued.
“And what's yours is yours.”
“Pakki, your body will recover soon, so I must bid you farewell.”
“You're leaving? Just after getting your hands on Ivory Gold City? Where are you going?”
“My older sister is waiting for me at Mulan Castle.”
“Your sister? Is she from the East? But you don't have an older sister in the Eastern world.”
Shen Lang said with a smile.
“No. She is my half-sister, same father, different mother. If my guess is correct, she is the direct heir of Empress Helene, the undisputed ruler of the southern Empire—Princess Helene.”
Duchess Dipa was stunned for a moment.
Princess Helene is Shen Lang's sister? What did that mean?
After a long pause, Duchess Dipa spoke.
“Th-then before you go, aren't you going to fulfill your promise and leave me with child?”